Old Gendo
by MAI742
Summary: Gendo is old. WAFF, Humour. One-shot.


Gendo Ikari sat at his desk in his customary pose.

"Hello, Commander," called Shinji as he entered the room and stood before his father.

"Rei?"

"I'll just go get her." Shinji turned and left, re-tracing his steps into the hall. A moment later he re-entered father's field of vision.

"Hello, Commander."

"Third Child."

"It's Tuesday morning, Commander. You always check the progress reports on Tuesday mornings."

Shinji placed his briefcase on the desk, taking out a stack of files and placing them before Gendo.

"The latest Angel has been defeated with no problems, Commander. Units One and Two performed admirably. Damage sustained to the Evangelions was negligible."

Gendo grunted an acknowledgement as he worked his way through the stack, adding an occasional scrawl.

"Why isn't Fuyutsuki doing this?"

"He's, um..."

_Dead._

"...indisposed."

He set the pen down and looked Shinji in the eye. His eyes were clear, penetrating - sharp. "Shinji," he said "are you lying to me?"

"No, father."

Gendo's eyes narrowed. "I _ordered_, that every pilot marry a pelican. _Where is your pelican_, Shinji? I haven't seen it today."

"It's, um," he sweated under father's gaze "it got sick. It's at home today."

Gendo stared him down for a long, heart-stopping moment.

Gendo cleared his throat and went back to the paperwork. "Well make sure you take good care of it. It's hard to find a good pelican these days... " he muttered "all the good ones are taken..."

Gendo frowned over the last paper, peering very closely at it. "This isn't a report, it's prose. Frivolous and irrelevant." He laid it down on the desk, glaring at his time-wasting son. "Why is it-"

Shinji snatched it from him. "Ah, sorry, I made a mistake-"

He eyed another "-and this one _also_-"

Moving lightning-fast, Shinji relieved him of the entire stack and had replaced it neatly it in his briefcase within seconds. "Sorry..."

Gendo's look said everything. But father always had to have the last word. "It's a good thing Fuyutsuki has beak-rash, or you wouldn't be here."

"Sorry."

Gendo looked up.

"I mean, _yes_, father."

"_Commander_. I am your _C__ommander_, Third Child."

"Yes, Commander(-father)".

He added the last bit under his breath.

"What was that?"

"Mice, father," he said without batting an eyelash.

"Sneaky little bastards," said father. "Can't stand them. Always remind me of Kihl."

The only sound was the ticking of the clock. Shinji had been given to understand it had belonged to his grandparents - on his mother's side. Even to this day, he knew nothing of father's background.

"Are you quite comfortable here, father?"

He was met with icy silence, and a chilling glare. "The seam on this cushion is riding up my butt crack."

_Too much information_. "I'll, uh, just get that for you..."

"Yes. Yes, you shall._" _

That done, Shinji took his place before father. "Shall I, er, play something for you?"

He ignored his father's caustic stare and exited the room, retrieving his cello case.

In a few moments he was seated in the visitor's chair and playing a little something - Massenet's _Méditation_. The sunlight filtering in through the window was gentle and warm. Outside it was a beautiful day - but father wasn't one for the outdoors, Rei always said.

Too soon he was done, and when Rei clapped he nearly jumped. "Is it not a violin piece?"

"Usually. How is he today?"

Father was asleep already, slumped over his desk.

"Quiet."

She sat down across from him, and he played something he'd forgotten the name of. It was meditative, and restful, and that was all that mattered.

"It is good of you to come so often."

"How could I not?"

They sat in silence. Father woke after a while, whereupon Rei picked his lunch-tray off the floor and placed it before him on the desk. They retired to the kitchen to let him eat in private, as father preferred.

They ate lunch together - a less well-presented version of father's own meal, with a richer sauce. They were almost finished when there was a knock at the door.

"Misato?"

He nearly knocked her off her feet with the force of his hug. He was so big, now...

"Shinji. It's good to see you."

He could guess why she was there. "They want him for something?"

She nodded. "A little light admin work. People of his experience are hard to come by." She bit her lip. "But only if you think he's up to the task? We could use his skills, but..."

It was his turn to grimace. "You should ask him yourself." He sniffed. "Sorry, please, come on in. Rei made lunch. Rei-?"

"-Nono, it's fine, I had lunch already. Hi, Rei."

"Hello, Miss Katsuragi."

Father was still struggling with his spoon when Misato entered his study, Shinji in tow. He ate very slowly these days.

"Mister Ikari. We have some work for you."

Spoon forgotten, father resumed his customary pose.

She went on. "We'd like to offer you an administrative post, in the light of your experience in senior management positions."

For a long moment, there was no sound. Then, father grunted his assent. "Indeed. All is proceeding according to the scenario."

There was another pause.

"Fuyutsuki - have the latest plans brought to me at once. The previous design for Unit 13 is totally inadequate."

Frozen to the spot, she found her eyes seeking out Shinji's. They told him all she needed to know.

"...yes, of course. I shall," she spared Shinji another glance, and he prompted her with another look "I shall inform him at once. Unit 13 is totally inadequate, it's quite true."

"Of course it is," he practically snapped. "And I want the Drone-Hopper production completed by the time Wille brings its _Wunder_ here."

Glaring into the distance, still locked into his usual pose, his gaze at once darkened and intensified. "With Units 13 and 9, the _Wunder_ will stand no chance against us."

"Yes," said Shinji slowly and with an admirable display of confidence "we will double our efforts. They _will _be produced in time."

"For your sake I hope so, Fuyutsuki. Chairman Keel is not as forgiving as I am."

"Of course, fa-" he coughed "Commander." He found himself at a loss.

"I should take my leave," Misato said, "Commander. They need me back at work within the hour." She bowed to him and nodded a farewell - complete with a pitying, strained smile - to Shinji before exiting.

There was a long silence again, after she left. Shinji soon sat down in one of the guest chairs, feeling rather drained. When he looked up again, father looked... troubled. The sun brought out the white in his greying hair.

"We _will _meet our production targets, sir." He could sense something in father's mood shifting, and his brain kicked into overdrive."The scenario will-"

"-Shinji." Father met his eyes.

For a moment - and 'just' a moment - the fog had cleared.

"You can stop, now."

His words died in his mouth. Father's eyes were watery, and tired, and old, and - and maybe this was just him reading things into the man, again - desperately sad.

Father _knew_. And he had no idea what to say.

The sun shone on. It was a beautiful day.

* * *

Alternate, more cheerful mid-section/ending

* * *

He seemed to know why she was there. "They want him for something?"

She nodded. "Something's... _wrong_. We..."

"Is it another Angel?"

"No, it's..." her expression was darker than he'd ever seen it "it's worse. Your father is a long shot, but anything he can remember - _anything_ at all - could-" she cut herself off and visibly searched for something else to say, as if the original wasn't something she wanted to believe "...be useful." She bit her lip. "Do you have a passport, Shinji?"

"Yes...?"

"Then, _please_: the moment I'm done here, leave. Take the first flight out and leave the country. Don't pack, just get some money and _go_. Can you promise me you'll do that?"

"I. Misato, this is _way_ too sudden-!"

"Shinji." She wasn't his guardian anymore, but they both knew that tone. "Do as I say. Please?"

"I-"

"_Please?_"

She was serious. Her intensity scared him. "Yes, Misato."

"Good."

She took a deep breath. "I..."

He managed a smile as he spared her the trouble. "I know."

Grateful, she smiled. She stared at his lips for a moment, and he blushed. He knew that look.

Then he gasped as her embrace winded him. She'd never held him so tight in all his life.

Father was still struggling with his spoon when Misato entered his study, Shinji in tow. He ate very slowly these days.

"Mister Ikari. I'm afraid we have a situation..."

She moved to his side and crouched down by him. She whispered something to him.

Spoon forgotten, father resumed his customary pose.

She went on, and his expression darkened.

For a long moment, there was no sound. Then, father grunted his assent. "Indeed. All is proceeding according to the scenario."

There was another pause.

"Fuyutsuki - have the latest plans brought to me at once. The previous design for Unit 13 is totally inadequate."

Frozen to the spot, she found her eyes seeking out Shinji's. They told him all she needed to know. After a moment she found her voice.

"I'm sorry, Shinji, but we still need to take your father in. He... he might remember something," her voice faltered as the sky turned red and Gendo went on, unheeding "-and I want the Drone-Hopper production completed by the time Wille brings its _Wunder_ here. With Units 13 and 9, the _Wunder_ will-!"

* * *

Thanks for your time.

This work is entirely derived from three amazing thingies by other people.

The first is the story 'Cosmonaut' by 'shelter', which is available on this website. I recommend it to everyone for their rather well-done and terribly engaging look at an elderly Gendo as seen through the eyes of Rei.

The second is the sketch 'Old Holmes' from 'That Mitchell and Webb Look'. I laughed, then I cried. It was amazing.

The third is 'Meditation' (for cello) from Jules Massenet's opera _Thaïs. _It's jaw-droppingly beautiful.

Penny for your thoughts, dear reader?


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